Business Development interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about your most impactful deal or account.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why consulting / IT services BD - and why this firm vs product SaaS sales, strategy consulting BD, or internal sales?
5. Which offering or vertical would you want to focus on, and why?
6. Why the firm?
7. How would you describe the firm's go-to-market and where it wins in your own words?
8. How does an IT services firm actually make + grow revenue?

Technical concepts to master

• BD lifecycle + opportunity shaping

  Pipeline origination + coverage · Early solution shaping with SA + delivery · Win themes + differentiation · Transition to delivery

• Qualification + pipeline + forecast

  MEDDIC / MEDDPICC qualification · Pipeline hygiene + stage discipline · Bid / no-bid + pursuit ROI · Forecast accuracy + commit discipline

• Commercial structure + margin

  Commercial model selection · Margin protection + walk-away · Risk allocation + assumptions · Partner economics + orchestration

• Account growth + executive relationship

  Stakeholder map + executive coverage · Multi-year account plan + roadmap · Insight-led executive engagement · Land-and-expand + NRR

Practical drills

• Walk me through a pursuit you've run end-to-end - origination, qualification, shape, commercial structure, close, transition, and what happened in the account 12 months later.
• A new mid-market opportunity has surfaced via inbound. The buyer is the head of digital, says they have budget, wants to RFP in 3 weeks, and you have not met the CIO or CFO. Walk me through how you'd qualify + decide.
• Champion has secured 45 minutes with the client CIO and CFO together, both new to you. Goal: progress a transformation opportunity. Walk me through how you'd prepare and run the meeting.

Smart-question anchors

• Territory + quota + pipeline - the role's territory, quota, starting pipeline coverage
• Sales methodology + qualification - MEDDIC / Miller Heiman / Challenger; the firm's signature pursuit playbook
• Vertical + offering focus - the verticals + offerings the role focuses on, growth bets
• Partner ecosystem + co-sell - hyperscaler + SaaS partnerships + joint go-to-market motion
• Lighthouse accounts + references - the firm's flagship accounts in the territory + how they're used in pursuits

Sourced from

MEDDIC / MEDDPICC canonical sales methodology · Miller Heiman Strategic Selling + Large Account Management · Mergers & Inquisitions / Glassdoor — IT services + client partner interview reports · TSIA + Gartner IT services research · Challenger Sale + Sandler — enterprise selling methodologies